The Jones Falls is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed April 1, 2011

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. It is impounded to create Lake Roland before running through the city of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

and finally emptying into the Baltimore Inner Harbor. The Jones Falls valley has a long history in the city of Baltimore as a transportation corridor. The valley of the Jones Falls carries Falls Road (which is numbered as

Maryland Route 25 Maryland Route 25 (MD 25), locally known for nearly its entire length as Falls Road, is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. It begins north of downtown Baltimore, just north of Penn Station (Baltimore), Penn Station, and continues no ...

), the tracks for the Amtrak Northeast Corridor, the Jones Falls Expressway (JFX) of

Interstate 83 Interstate 83 (I-83) is an Interstate Highway located in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland; its ...

, and the

Baltimore Light Rail The Baltimore Light RailLink (formerly Baltimore Light Rail, also known simply as the "Light Rail") is a light rail system serving Baltimore, Maryland, United States, and its northern and southern suburbs. It is operated by the Maryland Transi ...

. The

Baltimore Penn Station Baltimore Penn Station—formally, Baltimore Pennsylvania Station—is the main inter-city passenger rail hub in Baltimore, Maryland. Designed by New York City architect Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison (1872–1938), it was constructed in 1911 in ...

also rests on an elevated platform in the valley. It also carries tracks for a historic rail line which is currently served by the

Baltimore Streetcar Museum The Baltimore Streetcar Museum (BSM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, nonprofit museum. It is located at 1911 Falls Road (Maryland Route 25, MD 25) in Baltimore, Maryland. The museum is dedicated to preserving Baltimore's public transpo ...

. The

MTA Maryland The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is a state-operated mass transit administration in Maryland, and is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). The MTA operates a comprehensive transit system throughout the Washington- ...

Route 27 also provides transportation on Falls Road; however, at some point it was moved from following 36th Street south to other city streets. Jones Falls River Watershed Map

The Jones Falls is spanned by many bridges within Baltimore City's borders, and often the

Jones Falls Expressway Interstate 83 (I-83) is an Interstate Highway located in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Maryland; its northern ...

rests directly above the river.

Course

The Jones Falls begins as a small stream in

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland. The county is part of the Central Maryland region of the state. Baltimore County partly surrounds but does not include the independent city ...

near

Garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

at the intersection of Caves and Garrison Road (39.41771° -76.75750°). It travels southeast for before joining the North Branch Jones Falls stream near

Stevenson Stevenson is an English language patronymic surname meaning "son of Steven". Its first historical record is from pre-10th-century England. Another origin of the name is as a toponymic surname related to the place Stevenstone in Devon, England. The ...

(39.41225° -76.70937°). North Branch Jones Falls originates near Worthington by the intersection of Park Heights Avenue and Walnut Avenue (39.46135° -76.75057°). The North Branch travels south for before joining Jones Falls stream. The falls then travels east for before Dipping Pond Run joins at ( 39.41424° -76.68557°). The Jones Falls continues east another before Deep Run intersects near

Brooklandville Brooklandville is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States near the intersection of Jones Falls Expressway and the Baltimore Beltway. The general area is a part of Lutherville, and some addresses in the area are co ...

(39.41467° -76.67060°). The stream then continues south along

(I-83), which is named the Jones Falls Expressway, for until Slaughterhouse Branch and Moores Branch join it next to the I-83 overpass over

(MD 25, Falls Road) (39.39587° -76.66442°). Jones Falls near Lake Roland dam

The Jones Falls travels southeast for , passing through Lake Roland Park, until it meets Lake Roland, an impounding of the stream. (39.39069° -76.64639°) In Lake Roland, Roland Run and Towson Run both join. Once it leaves Lake Roland, the Jones Falls becomes a small river. Not long after leaving the lake, the Jones Falls enters

directly underneath an intersection of Interstate 83 and the

's mainline, with both routes beginning to parallel I-83. For the remainder of the Jones Falls' course, I-83 enters the Jones Falls valley, where it constantly crosses over, parallels, and covers the river. Another after entering the city, Western Run joins near

Mount Washington Mount Washington is an ultra-prominent mountain in the state of New Hampshire. It is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorio ...

(39.36717° -76.64835°). The Jones Falls, I-83, and the Light Rail continue south for before the last major stream, Stony Run, empties into the stream near

Druid Hill Park Druid Hill Park is a urban park in northwest Baltimore, Maryland. Its boundaries are marked by Druid Park Drive (north), Swann Drive and Reisterstown Road (west and south), and the Jones Falls Expressway / Interstate 83 (east). Along the way, MD 25 enters the valley, running parallel to the river opposite of the highway and rail lines. MD 25 is also paralleled by the

Jones Falls Trail Jones Falls Trail (typically abbreviated JFT) is a hiking and bicycling trail in Baltimore, Maryland. It mostly runs along the length of the namesake Jones Falls, a major north–south stream in and north of the city that has long acted as a m ...

. About a before it intersects Stony Run, the Jones Falls goes over a waterfall named "Round Falls".
American Whitewater Jones Falls - Lake Roland to Round Falls. About after Stony Run, and after passing by the

, the CSX Transportation, CSXT-operated

Baltimore Belt Line The Baltimore Belt Line was constructed in Baltimore, Maryland, by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in the early 1890s to connect the railroad to its new line to Philadelphia and Jersey City (the terminal serving New York City). It include ...

bridges the river, bound for the Howard Street Tunnel. The Jones Falls then immediately passes underneath North Avenue. Just south of North Avenue, the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

enters the valley upon exiting the

Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel The Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel (or B&P Tunnel) is a double-tracked, masonry arch railroad tunnel on the Northeast Corridor in Baltimore, Maryland, just west of Pennsylvania Station (Baltimore). Opened in 1873, the tunnel is the oldest tunnel ...

and bridging the Jones Falls, with Howard Street Bridge directly above this intersection. MD 25 ends shortly after (splitting into the one-way couplet of eastbound Lanvale Street and westbound Lafayette Avenue), with the Jones Falls Trail joining city streets, and the Light Rail also leaves the valley to join Howard Street. After the rapid succession of bridges, the Jones Falls almost immediately enters a tunnel, the Jones Falls Conduit, which curves to flow directly underneath I-83 (39.30896° -76.61964°). After passing by Baltimore's Pennsylvania Station, situated directly in the valley, the Northeast Corridor exits the valley, and the Jones Falls Conduit and I-83 curve sharply to the south. The river and highway continue to Fayette Street. Here, I-83 ends; two blocks south of this point, the Jones Falls exits the conduit and flows several more blocks before it empties into the east side of the

Inner Harbor The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark in Baltimore, Maryland. It was described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as "the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world". The Inner Harbo ...

(39.28657° -76.60457°) near Mr. Trash Wheel.

Future

As far back as 1990, city-sponsored planning studies showed support for the idea of partially demolishing I-83 and thus

daylighting Daylighting can refer to: * Daylighting (architecture), use of windows for indirect lighting * Daylighting (intersections), improving road visibility at intersections * Daylighting (streams), restoration of a previously buried watercourse * Dayl ...

the Jones Falls. More recent suggestions include a long-range plan proposed by Marc Szarkowski, while he was working for the Philadelphia firm Dremodeling, and a more immediate and concrete plan commissioned by the city from Baltimore-based Rummel, Klepper & Kahl in 2009. The Szarkowski vision is wide ranging, including infill housing, an expansion of Penn Station, a system of roundabouts, a multi-story sculpture and several new, buried transit lines. Szarkowski has publicly acknowledged the extremely ambitious and long-range nature of the plan. The RK&K study was more limited, assessing only the area from Fayette Street to Chase Street.According to secondary materials from the company: tp://ftp.dot.state.fl.us/LTS/d1/profserv/14108/RSH_FDOT%20D1_US41_CR865_PDE_431332_1_22_01.pdf/ref> The long-range Szarkowski concept includes selected portions of the watershed from as far north as Woodberry, though with significantly less engineering detail included. A civic group
Friends of the Jones Falls
is active in advocating for the daylighting of the river.

Legal issues

On April 5, 2023, Blue Water Baltimore, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, filed a lawsuit against the

Kerry Group Kerry Group plc is a public food company headquartered in Ireland. It is quoted on the Dublin ISEQ and London stock exchanges. Given the company's origins in the co-operative movement, farmer-suppliers of the company retain a significant i ...

, the parent of Fleishmann's Vinegar Co., the nation's largest

vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

manufacturer. The company was accused of polluting the water channels in Jones Falls with illegal acidic chemicals, causing around 1,000 fish to die beginning in 2021. The lawsuit also stated that the members of Blue Water Baltimore discovered dead fish and eels in the water streams, illegal chemicals pumping out from unauthorized extra pipes on the property into the Jones Falls stream, and various highly acidic toxins around the foundation of the plant. The Maryland Department of the Environment also filed its own lawsuit through the U.S. District Court of Baltimore the same day. Reportedly, the company bypassed safety requirements when discharging treated water into the stream to cool down the vinegar, including the removal of chlorine. Additionally, according to an inspection by state regulators, they had discharged more than 643,300 gallons of water into the stream per day, which was more than double the amount of the company's original estimation of 295,000 gallons. In December 2023, as a result of the lawsuits, Kerry shut down Fleischmann's Baltimore plant. The announcement of the shutdown came the same day as environmental testing at the facility from the state was planned to commence. A spokesperson for Kerry stated that “The company will transfer production from Baltimore to other facilities as part of a broader consolidation of activity within the network,”. The company did not comment on if there were any layoffs caused by the shutdown, but they did not file layoff notices with the Maryland Department of Labor. A test from the

Maryland Department of the Environment The Maryland Department of the EnvironmentMDE is a government agency in the state of Maryland that implements and enforces environmental protection laws and programs. The agency's stated vision is "Healthy, vibrant and sustainable communities and ...

conducted on Dec. 20, 2023 found that a small amount of green dye was visible in Jones Falls just below the back wall of the facility. Earlier that day, Maryland environmental officials stated that red and green dye might be seen in the Jones Falls waters, however this was not said to pose a threat to life.

References

External links

The Jones Falls Watershed Association

Article from the Johns Hopkins Newsletter
{{authority control Landforms of Baltimore Patapsco River Rivers of Maryland Subterranean rivers of the United States

Course

Future

Legal issues

See also

References

External links